INTRODUCTION 
7 
In whatever part, however, of the world these beautiful 
plants exist, whether in tropical or temperate climes, they 
add a singular charm to their surroundings. Even when 
they grow on some wide expanded heath, under the open 
canopy of heaven, and in the full rays of the sun, they bring 
delicacy and grace to the scene, however wild and rugged it 
may otherwise, be. If they grow beneath the shady under- 
wood of a forest, they add a mystic and tender charm to the 
gloomy beauty of the place. When they are scattered over 
the great boulders which may stud the roaring bed of a 
mountain torrent, or are perched on the tiny islets of a 
gently murmuring stream, they are still the feature of crown- 
ing beauty as their waving fronds move responsively to the 
breeze, and kiss with their delicate tips the tumbling water, 
as if caressing the element which ministers to the most vital 
principle of their existence. When they clothe the sides 
and tops of jagged rocks, they appear as if placed there to 
soften the ruggedness of the stony surfaces ; and when they 
grow in the clefts of dwarfed or stunted forest trees, they 
help in such places to make amends for the incompleteness 
of Nature, whilst they lend their own half-mystic charm to 
minister to the pleasure of beholders. 
